2018 marked among other things the centenary of the end of the First World War. It was a conflict whose most famous
quote came right at the start of it. On the evening of 3rd August
1914 the Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey looked out of his office window
overlooking St James Park, and noticing the lamplighters starting their work,
remarked: ‘The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see
them lit again in our lifetime’.
It was, of course, a reference to the coming conflict about
to engulf the continent. Along with the following physical, psychological and
social trauma that followed – many have also seen that war as a great moment of
spiritual upheaval. For many it was a tipping point leading to the subsequent
great decline in Christian belief in the nation. Its horrors causing a crisis
of faith that the British have never recovered from.
The Great Decline
The reality is more complicated and the decline of Christianity
in Britain can be traced as far back as the 19th Century. However, whatever part
the War may have played in exacerbating
or indeed accelerating that decline, there
is no doubt that we stand in 2019 at the end of a 100 years when the ‘spiritual
lamps’ (as Revelation describes local churches) in our nation have, year by
year and decade by decade, steadily gone out.
In the early part of that process the decline was less
noticeable, at times seemingly offset by local Revivals and special events
(e.g. the temporary spike in church attendances after the Billy Graham
campaigns in the 1950s). However, in the later twentieth century the underlying
attrition gave way to cliff edge falls. In Scotland church attendance more than
halved in the 30 years prior to 2016 – the drop between 2002 and 2016 equivalent
to ten congregations closing every month[1].
The result is a decimated Scottish church - that today is more than twice as
elderly as the nation as a whole[2].
As the ‘lamps’ went out, in buildings that are now
nightclubs, artisan flats and carpet warehouses, the darkness has increased.
The two things go hand in hand.
Flickers of Hope
But thank God, who is always much more merciful than we
deserve, it has not been a complete blackout. Indeed in an increasing number of
places the ‘lamps’ are being switched back-on again. On the last Sunday of 2018,
I attended one such ‘lamp’ – a busy, all-age, joyful congregation, a church
where the Bible was opened and preached faithfully. It was a ‘lamp’ that wasn’t
there 12 months earlier but is now burning brightly in the heart of
gospel-needy community.
It’s one of 5 FIEC Recognised Church Plants in Scotland that
began public services in 2018; the Free Church of Scotland are currently
supporting 9 Plants and have a vision to see 21 more established in the next
decade[3].
On average a FIEC connected Church Plant is being launched every 3 weeks
somewhere in the UK. These are just two of a range of Gospel networks supporting
such work – not least the growing proliferation of ethnic minority
congregations who are starting to ask: ‘How can we reach our white British
neighbours?’
Additionally the 2018 study ‘The Desecularisation of the
City[4]’
challenges the received wisdom that secularisim is an unstoppable tide –
pointing out that between 1979 and the present the number of
congregations in London has increased by 50%.
A brighter future
Now only a prophet can predict the future and I’m not a
prophet – but it may be that just as the first half of the C20 contained the
seeds of decline (e.g. liberal churches squandering their evangelical
inheritance) – it may be that the first half of the C21 has within it the seeds
of growth.
Like the initial period of decline after the First World
War, the coming of growth is not likely to be immediately apparent. Indeed it will be
offset, in the foreseeable future, by the continued decline of compromised and aging
churches. So we shouldn’t expect any sudden return to ‘Christian Britain’ – if
anything the next few decades are likely to be spiritually harder and darker yet.
We can, however, take hope and pray that the decades of spiritual
pruning might lead in the future to decades of renewed spiritual flourishing in the
nation. Our grandparents witnessed the ‘lamps’ beginning to go out – but we can
be part of a work in 2019 that, by God’s grace, may allow our children and
grandchildren to see them lit again across the nation.
[1] Brierley,
Growth Amidst Decline – Future First (April 2017, Issue 50)
[2] Brierley,
Growth Amidst Decline – Future First (April 2017, Issue 50) &
www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Equality/Equalities/PopulationMigration
[3] https://freechurch.org/news/church-plants
[4] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Desecularisation-City-Churches-Routledge-Religion/dp/0815348177